In early 2011, Joe met someone who’d apparently recovered from debilitating fatigue through the work of a Soviet scientist Konstantin Buteyko, and alleged the method could reverse many conditions.

He said: “It sounded too good to be true. But, being desperate, I went along to the free introductory talk.”

Joe said he was swayed by the testimonies of others going back 60 years.

The Buteyko method claims that modern humans breathe too much.

Advocates of the method state that this ‘hyperventilation syndrome’ is a result of the modern lifestyle - drugs, over-eating and sleeping, lack of exercise, and psychological pressures.

This results in a loss of carbon dioxide, which Buteyko believed to be the body’s ‘primary regulator,’ thereby causing illness and fatigue.

Buteyko claimed to have found a way of retraining the brains’ respiratory centre and depth of breathing, thereby improving in health.

Joe said: “The process wasn’t easy. However, I was supported throughout by the ‘Learn Buteyko’ team. Between them they have decades of experience, and tens of thousands of successfully treated students world-wide.”

“To my eternal gratitude I fully recovered, and was then asked if I’d like to support the work.”

Joe is now bringing the talks to Bassetlaw, beginning with a brief historical outline and concluding with a question and answer session with a practitioner via video link.